By Chan Thar / Myanmar Times | June 18, 2018

Church aid workers have been warned by security forces not to provide aid to refugees in areas controlled by the armed ethnic group Kachin Independence Army (KIA), a spokesman of the Kachin Baptist Convention told The Myanmar Times.

U Hka Li, social development official of the church group, said the warning to their workers came after they visited refugee camps in Waingmaw township earlier in the month.  The aid workers provided resources and medicine to the internally displaced persons in the area and did not establish contact with KIA.

“The refugee camps in the border region are located in the area controlled by the KIA, and as KIA members are present, charges can be made under Unlawful Associations Act section 17(1). Therefore, it is notified so that there will be no future visits,” according to the warning notice released on May 21 by Colonel Thura Myo Tin, Kachin State  Security and Border Affairs minister.

If the members do not follow the notice, charges will be filed, according to the notice. If the court decides that the law is violated, the punishment can be imprisonment for up to three years..

The church aid workers went to border post nos. 6 and 8 in Waingmaw township on May 6 to give food to refugees, said the military.

But U Hka Li said his group has been the main organisation helping the refugees in Kachin State and has been doing it for seven years and it will continue to help needy refugee camps.

“The place that members visited is not controlled by KIA. It was where real refugees live. Members gave them relief goods and prayed for them. Charging us under section 17(1) for visiting and helping these refugees is really questionable. Our duty is to help those in trouble,” he said.

The battles in Kachin between the military and KIA forces in 2011 forced about 100,000 residents to take shelter at refugee camps.

Renewed fighting in April forced another 7400 villagers to flee their homes, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

As the monsoon season arrives, many refugees need things like shelter, healthcare and schooling for children. U Hka Li questioned if their humanitarian actions of helping those in need are wrong.

“Refugees in refugee camps are also citizens,” he said.

A senior military official recentyl said that they will abide by the order of President U Win Myint on the Kachin issue.

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This article originally appeared on Myanmar Times on June 18, 2018.

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